“We crossed the plain on the 11th of December, and arrived at Tubugwé. It is only six miles wide, but within this distance we counted fourteen human skulls, the mournful relics of some unfortunate travellers, slain by an attack of Wahumba, from the northwest. I think it is beyond doubt that this plain, extending, as it does, from the unexplored northwest, and projecting like a bay into a deep mountain fiord southeast of our road, must in former times have been an inlet or creek of the great reservoir of which the Ugombo Lake, south of here, is a residuum. The bed of this ancient lake now forms the pastoral plains of the Wahumba and the broad, plain-like expanses visible in the Ugogo country.” From Tubugwé, Stanley directed his march to Mpwapwa, on the banks of a small tributary of the Mukondokwa, which he reached on the 12th day of December, after a twenty-five day’s march from Bagamoyo. [Illustration] CHAPTER XIX. STANLEY’S ROUTE TO VICTORIA NYANZA. Spends Christmas at Zingeh -- The Rainy Season Sets In -- Famine or Scarcity of Food -- Half-Rations -- Extortionate Chiefs Levy Blackmail -- Arrival at Jiweni -- Through Jungle to Kitalalo -- The Plain of Salina -- “Not a Drop of Water” -- Bellicose Natives -- Trouble with Many of his Followers -- Valuable Services Rendered him by Frank and Edward Pocock and Frederick Barker -- Frequent Quarrels -- The Trials of Stanley -- Camp at Mtiwi -- Terrible Rain Storm, and Sad Plight of Stanley and his People -- Misled by his Guide, is Lost in a Wild of Low Scrub and Brush -- Terrible Experiences -- Starvation Impending -- Sends for Relief to Suna in Urimi -- The Welcome Meal of Oatmeal -- A Singular Cooking Utensil -- Death of Edward Pocock -- The Weary March from the Warimi to Mgongo Tembe -- The Beautiful Usiha -- Reaches Victoria Nyanza February 27th, 1875 -- Enters Kagehyi -- Receives its Hospitalities -- The End of a Journey of 720 miles in 103 days.